Survey of New Manufactured (Mobile) Homes

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Survey of New Manufactured (Mobile) Homes

PURPOSE

To provide current monthly estimates of new manufactured (mobile) homes placed
for residential use and dealer inventories. The United States Code, Title 13,
authorizes this survey and provides for voluntary responses. The Department
of Housing and Urban Development funds this survey.

COVERAGE

All new manufactured homes that have received a Federal inspection (i.e.,
HUD-code homes).

CONTENT

Data collected include manufacturer’s date of shipment, sales price,
date of placement for residential use, placement location (state, county, and
community), how titled, and home physical characteristics such as foundation,
number of bedrooms, floor area, and air conditioning.

FREQUENCY

Data collection begins about 40 days after each reference month, and continues
for about 9 days. Reported data are for activities taking place two months earlier.
The sample is updated each month. The survey is conducted monthly since 1974.

METHODS

A mail-out and telephone interview survey of about 1,000 dealers covering
an inventory of some 1,200 selected new manufactured homes is conducted each
month. In addition, a sample of newly manufactured homes is selected from lists
obtained from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety. Dealers that
take shipment of the selected homes are mailed a survey form for recording the
status of the manufactured home. Each successive month, the dealer is contacted
by telephone and provides updated status information about the home. Contact
continues until the selected home is placed. From the sample data, monthly placements
in the U.S. are estimated and seasonally adjusted.

PRODUCTS

Monthly survey results are placed on the Manufactured Homes Survey website and include preliminary estimates and the two prior month figures
for units placed, average sales price, and dealers’ inventories by geographical
region. Annual data are available by state. This data is available about 8 weeks
after each reference month.

USERS

The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the data as an input to estimates of
residential fixed investment. The Department of Housing and Urban Development
uses the data to monitor total new housing production and its affordability.

Trade associations use the data for housing market analysis. Manufacturers
and their suppliers use the estimates to monitor trends in prices and characteristics
(e.g., floor area, number of bedrooms, presence of central air-conditioning).
Trade publications cite estimates in articles.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Provides an indicator of manufactured home residential housing activity.